Pressed Flowers
by megers67
Summary: Most people had pressed flower books that had many more entries than his, but Aizawa didn't see the point in keeping just any flower. Just the ones that mattered. 4 1 Fic Based on an AU made by deafmic on Tumblr. In this AU, people grow flowers in their hair when they experience strong emotions, each person with their own flower. Cross posted from AO3
1. Chapter 1

(1)

Aizawa Shouta had had a crush on his best friend for the last two years. He had never really grown flowers before he started attending UA and had never really thought about it much in the past. But it was different now. He was staring at the bathroom mirror at a loss. His head was nearly covered in lilies, big white lilies that were impossible to hide. He had had the odd flower grow here and there during school, but nothing like this. Unfortunately, he knew why.

He spent the whole weekend with Yamada Hizashi, only returning to his own home to sleep before going back over. The growing teen had felt truly comfortable for the first time in his life. Like he was home sitting in Hizashi's room, listening to the blond's voice as he talked about his new special interest. Shouta couldn't follow him half the time, but as energetic as his friend was, he was patient and never made Shouta feel dumb about asking questions. It really hadn't been any different than most of the weekends they shared together. There was only one thing that stood out.

Shouta realized that he had a massive crush on Hizashi. He likely had one on his friend for a long while, but it wasn't strong enough to warrant a bloom until now. And now that the flowers were in full force, they just weren't falling out. Flowers fall out on their own when the emotion that spawned them faded. If they were plucked, they simply grew back if the emotions remained. In Shouta's case, it was as if a dam had broken and he was allowing himself to feel emotions he had kept at bay for two years. Trying to stop it now was just as ridiculous as trying to stop a dam break with a band aid.

The teen looked at his watch. He had to leave soon to get to school and he hadn't made any progress on this flower problem. Normally, he'd turn to Hizashi for something like this. The guy grew flowers all the time and really took care of his hair. If anybody would have advice on this, it'd be him. But unfortunately, he was kind of the source of the problem so that was out. Nemuri would spend more time trying to get the details about why he's blooming to be of much help and Tensei would likely just ask why it was a problem in the first place. The speedster was too casual to care much about that kind of thing.

Missing school was out of the question. Not only would it mean he'd miss classes for no actual good reason, but it would mean he'd have to stay home instead. He definitely didn't want to do that. Maybe he could shave his hair off? Can't grow flowers from his hair if there wasn't any hair. No. That was also a no-go. Coming to school bald would lead to more questions and odd stares than a full bloom would.

Then there was no other option. He had to go to school and hope for the best.

School wasn't as bad as he had thought it'd be. Shouta waited as long as he dared so he arrived in homeroom just before the bell. This meant that even if anyone was curious (and many were if their wide eyes were anything to go by), they didn't have time to interrogate him about it. Even the teachers were on top of it and there wasn't much time between classes for much conversation, but even then, he made it clear that he didn't want to talk to anyone about it.

Of course, Hizashi was trying to pass him notes all day that he promptly ignored. The blond was literally the last person he wanted to talk to about this. He didn't want their friendship to change. Even though it would be naturally different since he was actively crushing on his best friend, Shouta was determined to keep it as much the same as possible. It wasn't normal today, obviously, but he wanted the flowers to die down before resuming things as they were.

If Hizashi forced his hand, Shouta wasn't sure he could ever recover.

Therefore it shouldn't have been a surprise when, after Shouta made an effort to have lunch by himself, the loud teen was already at his planned hiding place.

"Shoutaaaa!" Hizashi exclaimed when he was discovered. "You know, if you really wanted to avoid me, you need to get new hideouts." He grinned like he'd just beat someone at shogi again, but it dropped when his friend turned silently to leave.

"Wait," the blond quickly grabbed Shouta's arm before he got too far. "If this is about your flowers… we don't have to talk about it if you really don't want to. I'm the last person to judge you for that kind of thing!" As if to emphasize his point, a daisy fell out of his hair.

Shouta hesitated. If he backed out now, then it ran the chance of actually hurting his best friend's feelings. The very idea pained him so he had no choice but to suffer through it. There wasn't much room in the supply closet so it took some maneuvering for both of them to fit. It was definitely more difficult than it had been in the past since the dark-haired teen had been going through a growth spurt. If this continued, he wouldn't be able to use this space anymore.

"You don't have to respond, but if it's any consolation, Sho," Hizashi began between bites of food. "I don't think I've seen lilies in bloom like that. They look nice."

It was a good thing that the light in the closet was pretty dim or it would be painfully obvious that he was blushing. Unfortunately, the flowers reacted by growing in size. Maybe Hizashi didn't notice?

Hizashi noticed. He hesitated like he was trying to decide if he should say something or not. To Shouta's dismay, he spoke. "Sho… you didn't grow new flowers. The ones you already had got more intense. Are… are they growing because of me?"

Welp, this is it. His life was over. The lilies betrayed him once more and were blooming harder, somehow. He put his face in his hands, his hair draping over as if hiding would somehow make it better. Shouta knew that as much as he wanted to deny it, he couldn't just lie to Hizashi's face like that. He didn't speak, but he nodded instead.

The blond, who always had something to say, was silent. It felt like it dragged on for an eternity. Shouta at this point wanted _some _sort of reaction. Anything. Even if it was bad, then he could at least get it over with. The anxiety was eating at him to the point where he could feel his flowers wilting.

Just when he was about to just get up and leave, he felt fingers drawing back his hair-and-flower curtain. Shouta looked up to see his crush kneeling close in front of him, his own hair full of flowers, daisies. Smiling.

"Wait, 'Zashi. You…?"

"Yeah. Ever since you kicked my ass at that first Sports Festival, I couldn't help it. Why do you think I always had flowers in my hair around you?"

The usually-tired teen's heart fluttered at the surprisingly positive turn of events. His lilies revived, but he barely even noticed. This was so unexpected that he had very little clue what to do now except pull Hizashi to him in a deep hug, burying his face into the mess of flowers he found. Daisies. He never knew how much he liked the smell of daisies.

After a moment, they pulled away, but remained holding each other. "Hey Sho... I want to give something to you." The blond plucked a particularly large daisy from his hair and carefully tucked it behind his companion's ear. He then took one of the lilies and stuck it behind his own ear to match.

Shouta's fingers danced upon the daisy behind his ear. He was so used to his large lilies that the smaller petals stood out even more. "I like it and I have something for you too." Before Hizashi could respond, Shouta pressed their lips together. It wasn't particularly romantic or polished. It was his first kiss after all and of course it wasn't going to be great, but it got the message across.

Neither was aware of how long they stayed like that, talking softly in each other's arms, but they were interrupted by the bell that signified the end of lunch. Surprised, they scrambled to their feet, knocking over Shouta's bento box that he hadn't even opened.

"Hizashi, we forgot all about lunch."

"Then I guess that just means we'll have to get something to eat after school."

"I guess it does."

* * *

(2)

Aizawa found that he liked the night. He was always a bit of a night owl anyway, but there was something about the city that was special at night. Sure, there were the party-goers or people celebrating one thing or another after work, but the crowds were far smaller and there were not nearly as many cars zipping around. Naturally, the criminal realm also much preferred the night so there weren't many nights that Eraserhead had to himself.

So it was only a matter of time before he had a call come in over his radio.

"Eraserhead, do you copy?"

"Loud and clear. Where do you need me to go?"

"We've got a fire in an apartment building that's gotten out of control. There are already firefighters and other heroes on the scene, but we need more out there to help rescue and evacuation. I'm sending you the address."

"On my way. Eraserhead, out." The underground hero checked his phone for the location. He actually knew the area pretty well as it was a poorer part of town and fairly close by. It was likely that he only didn't notice the fire's smoke before because of dark night sky. As a hero, he wasn't exactly specialized in search and rescue so if they're calling him in, they must be desperate for someone who can get there quickly over any particular skill set. All he brought to the table was that he was agile enough to reach places faster than other heroes. At least if they didn't have quirks for that.

Keeping to the rooftops, he made it to the scene quickly, and he definitely smelled the smoke long before he got there. It didn't get much better when he arrived. It wasn't just one apartment building, but three next to each other. It was clear that it started with the center building as it was almost completely engulfed. The winds had taken the flames to the building on the left and a tree bridged the gap to the right. Eraserhead dropped down to the ground to coordinate with the other heroes.

The hero team, Water Hose, seemed to be in charge of controlling the fire itself. The underground hero knew he wouldn't be much help and went to find who was coordinating the rescue effort. He almost didn't see Smokescreen as her hero costume was also dark like his, though in her case it was more of a thematic choice than his desire for stealth. She was standing between the buildings, concentrating on keeping the smoke away from as many people as she could. With as large of a blaze as this was, it was taking up nearly all of her concentration to keep track of it all.

Aizawa quickly approached her. "Smokescreen! I'm here and ready to assist. Where do you need me?"

The pro hero didn't look at him but addressed him all the same. "I've already got someone in building four on the left if you can sweep building eight on the right. I think I sense some people trapped in there, but it's hard to tell. Tune your radio to emergency channel two so we can keep contact."

"On it." As he ran towards the building by the tree, he switched his radio to the appropriate channel. "Radio testing, Smokescreen, do you copy?"

"I read you Eraserhead. There's too much debris to be certain, but I think the trapped citizens are on the third floor. Head there to confirm, but check the other floors as well."

"Roger that." It was hot as he shoved his way into burning building, but he had to just manage as best he could. He trained for this though it would have been nice to have a gas mask. Even with Smokescreen working on it, there was still an uncomfortable amount of smoke.

The ground floor lobby was clear as was the first floor. There were no answers to his call and the doors were all open, allowing him to quickly see that they were devoid of life. The second floor was largely the same, though one of the apartments was locked. He didn't feel much heat on the other side and kicked the door in. It seems that the owners weren't in, but a cat was huddled in the corner. Not wasting any time to worry about cat scratches, the hero scooped the frightened animal and brought it to the window. After he shoved the window open, the cat leapt out of his arms before he could lower it more safely. He couldn't spare the time to make sure the poor thing was okay as he needed to get to the third floor.

But as he started up the stairs, he encountered a problem. "Smokescreen! There is an obstruction on the stairwell between the second and third floors. It's too big for me to move."

The smoke hero cursed under her breath before addressing him. "I can take care of it, but I'll have to divert my attention to it. Ironsides, would you be okay for a few minutes?"

Another raspy voice came over the radio. "Just getting the last one out of here. Do what you need to do."

"Roger that. I'll work quickly. Eraserhead, stand back."

Aizawa retreated to the last landing as the smoke around him accumulated around a large piece of equipment that had fallen through a hole in the roof above onto the landing in front of the third floor entrance. The smoke continued to concentrate until it was a solid dark mass that grabbed hold of the unit and pivoted it so there was access once more to the third floor.

"Obstruction is clear, Smokescreen."

"Good. Be quick, the fire is still spreading."

The underground hero pulled open the wedged door and found a group of people already there. "Everyone evacuate calmly but quickly. The way is clear through to the ground floor. Is there anyone trapped?"

"There are a couple of kids in apartment 305. There parents went out on a date night so it's just them. We couldn't get the door open."

"I'll get them. You make sure everyone gets out of here." He didn't even wait to make sure the bystanders were vacated before he charged in. The apartment he was looking for was at the end of the hall on the side closest to the fire. He banged hard enough on the door to be heard and shouted, "This is pro hero, Eraserhead! Is there anybody in there?"

A faint voice called out from inside. "Yes! There's me and my sister is hurt and I can't open the door! Please help us!"

"Stand back, I'm kicking it in." The door had been wedged shut when the fire shifted the door frame slightly. It took a few tries before he got through. Surveying the scene, he saw a boy about 10 years old and a smaller girl who looked to be a few years younger. The girl had a broken leg and was unconscious. It was impossible to tell exactly what happened, but that wasn't important right now. What was important was getting them out of here. The hero picked up the girl to carry her.

"Hey kid, can you walk?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. Ahead of me, we need to evacuate." Eraserhead wasted no time leading them to the stairs. They almost reached the second floor when he felt an awful rumbling. He barely had enough time to react, shoving the boy to the second floor landing then tossing his sister at him. Once his hands were free, he used his capture weapon to grab the railing by the door in time to feel the ground crumble beneath his feet. Luckily the railing held his weight and he was able to pull himself up from the empty space. He opened the door and shoved the kids inside the second floor before the stairwell could disintegrate further.

His radio blared in his ears "Eraserhead! What's your status?"

"I have the last two survivors with me on the second floor. The stairwell collapsed. Did the others make it out?"

"Some were caught in the debris cloud, but they made it out. You need to get out of there now. I don't know how much longer the building will last."

Quickly, Aizawa scooped up the girl once more and draped her over his shoulder so he could grab her brother's hand. "Smokescreen, I'm going to exit through a window on the north side." He didn't even wait for a response before he made his way to the room he rescued the cat from earlier.

He addressed the scared boy. "Kid, do you have a quirk?"

"I-I have sticky hands. I can cling to stuff."

"Good." The girl was rousing, but still too weak to do anything. "Help me get your sister on my back and use your quirk to keep both of you in place."

The boy, to his credit, kept it together for his sister's sake. The positioning was awkward, but both children were secured on Aizawa's back. The hero climbed onto the window sill and quickly surveyed the outside, spotting a street light. It would have to do. He used his capture weapon to wrap around the lamp's head and swung out of the building. With the short head and his angle of approach, there was a sharp pull on his shoulders as his capture weapon coiled them around the pole. He slammed into the cold and solid metal, angling himself so that it was his front rather than his back. It winded him, but at least the kids were unharmed. He watched as the south side of the building, the one nearest the fire, collapsed. Now he was just... hanging there. Burdened as he was, getting down was going to suck.

Before he could come up with a plan, he felt a mass forming under his feet. The man looked down to see that Smokescreen was making a platform to help them down. The underground hero only unraveled his capture weapon when he felt confident that the concentrated smoke particles were solid. Once he was on the ground, he knelt down so the boy's feet touched the pavement below them, letting him know that he was safe to let go. Aizawa carefully maneuvered so that he was carrying the injured girl once again and brought her to the nearest paramedics.

The boy was still shaking, but clearly relieved that he and his sister were safe. Aizawa considered staying, but one of the neighbors had already rushed over. The other adult would be more than equipped to handle the children's emotional welfare than he would. The hero didn't see a need to remain. He turned to go back to Smokescreen, but he felt a tug on his sleeve.

"Mr. Eraserhead?" The boy, started. "I… Thank you for saving my sister and me."

The underground hero turned back toward the kid and knelt down to be at eye level. "It's my job." His face softened as he continued gently. "And you did a lot for your sister too. You kept her safe before I got there and helped her hang on so I could use my capture weapon. You were very brave."

He wasn't expecting the boy to rush forward and give him a hug. Aizawa awkwardly returned it before letting go and standing. "I need to give my report."

"Wait! Take this!"

In the dark, Aizawa hadn't seen it before but now that things were dying down, he could afford to pay attention to more details. The boy had small white flowers in his dark hair. _White liliac: innocence, humility._ The boy plucked one from his head and pressed it in the hero's hand. It wasn't unusual for pro heroes to get flowers from their fans and people they rescued. But for someone as under-the-radar as Eraserhead, it wasn't something he was used to. In fact, it was the first time he'd ever gotten one from a grateful citizen. They weren't usually present in his normal patrols and the villains he took down in raids or undercover operations weren't exactly giving them out as he smashed their teeth in.

But this? This was a nice change. Later that night, it was pressed in his flower book.


	2. Chapter 2

(3)

_Everything hurt._

It was like Aizawa Shouta's body had been dropped off a skyscraper, sipped into acid, then flattened by a steamroller. He supposed he wasn't too far off there. The man had practically broken every bone in his body in the fight at the USJ. Well, nearly all of them. Apparently the heel of his left foot made it through unscathed. Alright, maybe it wasn't so bad as all of that, but it wasn't as much of an exaggeration as he'd like it to be. As it was, he was wrapped head-to-toe in bandages and was lucky enough that he could see at all. Speaking of, he made a mental note to give his gratitude to the surgeons that saved his eyesight somehow.

It was a miracle that he even survive, let alone arrive at the school to teach a mere handful of days after the incident. The school had temporarily closed due to the attack and in his mind, that gave him enough time to recover so he would be able to maintain his perfect attendance. Of course, his coworkers didn't exactly agree with his priorities.

Shouta could see bright red poppy petals in Kayama Nemuri, aka Midnight's, dark hair, but couldn't tell the emotion from them. However, she certainly sounded about as angry as he'd ever heard her. She always had an… aggressive way of caring. She had no qualms about kicking someone's ass just to make sure they got some rest for once, and had done it to him multiple times in the past. The only reason she wasn't now was because his body was already so broken. The woman wasn't _that _cruel.

"What the hell do you think you're _doing _here?!"

"I have classes."

"And they would have been just fine with a substitute until you recovered, you idiot!" She then rounded on Present Mic, the only other person in the teacher's lounge at that time. "And _you _literally had _one_job!"

"How was I supposed to know he was already mobile enough on his own to call a cab?" Mic yelped. Despite being on the defensive at the moment, the injured man knew he was going to get more than an earful from his husband for this when they got back home.

But it was a waste of his time to stand here and make the headache he was nursing worse than it already was. It was therefore an easy decision to not-so-gracefully turn on his uninjured heel and exit the lounge.

"Eraserhead!" Nemuri called after him when she noticed he was no longer beside them.

"Homeroom is about to start," he said matter-of-factly.

Even from this distance, he could smell the poppies. She was pissed. "If you weren't already a walking corpse-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Aizawa would be waving her off if he could move his arms, but alas. He just hoped that his headache would survive the classes for the day or all of this effort would have been for nothing.

Either this particular batch of students were still high-strung because of the recent attack or they were just _naturally _loud and high energy. Scratch that, they were both. Of course, it didn't help that he had to announce that UA was going through with the sports festival, but it served as a pretty good distraction that took the rest of homeroom. And with luck, it will occupy his students over the next two weeks until the event itself.

Luck wasn't on his side. _Figures _.

Things had been going relatively smoothly the whole morning. Of course, in each class he stepped into for Ethics, he made it perfectly clear that he was fine and had no intention of answering probing questions about his condition. Additionally, since the school had closed for a few days, they were behind on the curriculum and needed to catch up. That tended to do the trick. Most students knew well enough not to delay Eraserhead when they were behind. Mercifully, any concern they had died on their tongues. He could see it in the flowers sprouting throughout the morning, but those were easy to ignore.

He even thought he was in the clear as he began his retreat to the teacher's lounge for lunch. The first of what turned out to be a string of students approached him. Aizawa couldn't say he didn't see this coming, but he was surprised that the first to approach him was Shoji.

"Sensei?"

Even though he hadn't known any of his students for very long, the teacher prided himself on being able to have a pretty good read on them. Shoji was a gentle giant. Large, strong, and physically intimidating, the teenager was not only the youngest of his class, but one of the quieter and more mature ones who managed the feat of being able to get along with everyone. A truly rare skill for a boy his age. Whatever was on his mind must be significant to stop him in the hallway like this. The suffering honeysuckles in the boy's hair confirmed it.

So even if he wasn't too injured to make a hasty escape, the hero would have stopped anyway.

"Yes?"

"I would like to know if you needed help with anything as thanks for saving us."

If this was coming from any other student, Aizawa would have been offended. He knew he looked and felt bad, but he wasn't out of commission.

"I'm fine. It's my job." He probably answered a little more curtly than he should have and began to shuffle away in an attempt to end the conversation.

"I understand, sir. I didn't mean to come across as rude. It's just when I was carrying you after that big villain attacked, the damage seemed extensive and I have plenty of hands to spare if you needed anything."

_That _certainly caught his attention. Eraserhead stopped and carefully observed his student. While the teen's obscured face betrayed little emotion, the honeysuckles were certainly showing deep emotions of guilt.

"Shoji, while I did not personally witness your actions, I received many reports from your classmates that you were instrumental in Iida's escape. Additionally, you kept me away from danger when I was no longer able to defend myself. _I _should be thanking _you _."

"I was only doing what I could to help."

"As was I. The only thing you need to be doing now is focus on the sports festival. Your duty as a student is to learn and improve upon your own skills, not worry about me. Am I understood?"

The boy didn't seem totally convinced, but knew well enough not to pursue it. "Yes sir."

Aizawa nodded as well as he could considering the circumstances and resumed his trek towards the teacher's lounge.

And he was stopped several more times, though the majority of students were in groups. Most gave a simple thanks and wished him well. At one point, Kirishima commented on how manly he was taking on so many villains at once. Some, like Todoroki, gave him a simple nod before going on his way. Iida, along with Ochacho and Izuku also wished him well, but it looked like he had more to say that he wasn't willing to discuss in front of his friends. Aizawa made a mental note to look into that later.

Just as he had made it to the teacher's lounge, he saw one last student waiting outside the door.

"Did you need anything, Asui?"

The girl seemed a little more hunched over than usual and the water lilies were wilting in her hair. "I just wanted to thank you, sir."

"What I did was nothing different than what any of the other faculty members would have done."

"But… he moved so fast. I didn't even have enough time to get away. We shouldn't have even been there in the first place."

_Oh. _This was much more than the generalized thanks he got from his other students. This was far more individual. Unlike the other students, she was mere moments away from disintegration. While she and the other students had been able to fight back before, this was completely different. Those other villains were small time. They were dangerous, but clearly could be handled by practically untrained teenagers without much trouble.

But with this guy, Asui didn't have a chance. Unlike the other students, she had been truly and completely helpless. There was never a good situation to encounter that. At UA, they tried to address this in a class during their students' third year. At the very least when they obtain their provisional license. It should be broached in a safe environment after they have had enough experience in training to understand the risks they face as a hero. But in the first week of the first year? That just wasn't fair.

"What happened was not your fault in any way. It is the fault of the villains who attacked."

"I understand sir, but you were-"

"I was fulfilling my job as your teacher and a pro hero. Our duty is to protect your safety to the best of our ability. If that means paying with our lives, then so be it. Each of us made that promise when we took our positions here. Even the faculty from other departments are ready to do whatever it takes to protect their students if they have to. I am no different from any of them and it would have been no different were it any other student. He would have attempted to attack anyone who was nearby. You just happened to have the misfortune of being the first one he saw. Nothing more."

Asui was silent for a few moments, but her water lilies revived somewhat. That meant progress, even if a little. Aizawa added one more point before she could come up with some other reason for her guilt.

"My only regret would have been if you were harmed. You were not harmed, so I regret nothing. Am I clear?"

"I…. Yes, sir," she finally relented. "Thank you."

"Good." There was a moment, however where he stood there awkwardly, unable to open the door. Helpfully, the teen opened the door for him. Her teacher nodded his thanks before entering the teacher's lounge at long last.

Then the end of lunch bell rang. _Dammit _.

The students were up to something. He could _feel _it.

When he entered the room to teach his class later that afternoon, the 1A students were whispering to each other in a highly suspicious manner. Even more suspicious was the fact that Shoji, Iida, and Asui seemed to be the middle of it, but the entire class was involved in one way or another. The fact that they immediately hushed and scrambled to their seats as soon as they noticed his presence certainly didn't help things.

At first he brushed it off as teens just being teens. After all, nothing out of the ordinary happened during his lecture and he was able to go on with his day. However, he absolutely knew something was up when he approached the 1A classroom to end the day with homeroom. Midnight was leaving and in a far better mood than she had been that morning. When she saw her long-time friend, she was beaming. That wasn't good for him at all.

"What's going on?"

The woman laughed. "Well, I can't tell you that. It would spoil it!"

"Spoil what?"

"The surprise! You really have a good group of kids this time around, Eraser. Don't give them too hard a time."

"Wha-?"

"See you soon!" Midnight left quickly in order to get to her own homeroom.

There was nothing for it. Homeroom was only a few minutes long anyway and from the looks of it, they've only been preparing since lunch. For those reasons, it wasn't like it could be a huge kind of surprise, but these kids do seem able to really defy his expectations. Both in the best and worst possible ways. Often at the same time.

He nudged open the door and didn't give them any time to react. "Alright, what are all of you planning?"

The students hurried to their seats. At first he didn't notice anything amiss. However, he then noticed a flower crown on his desk with a note next to it.

_We made this flower crown for you as thanks for everything you have done for us at the USJ. We know that it was your job, but that doesn't mean it didn't mean a lot to us._

_Thank you,_

_Class 1A_

The note also had signatures of every class member. All 20 of them. It was also evident looking at the crown that every student contributed to it as well. 20 flowers. That certainly had to have been an effort to convince some of the more stubborn students to join in.

Flower crowns weren't uncommon gifts, especially as a means of well-wishing like this was. He knew many heroes who had received them in his time. Once after a particularly nasty encounter with a villain left Hizashi in the hospital for a week, Shouta had come in to see him wearing five at once.

But for underground heroes? They rarely got individual flowers, let alone crowns. This was his first. Honestly, he never expected to see one meant for _him_.

There was a tense silence as the teens awaited their gruff teacher's reaction. However, he didn't scold them. He didn't grumble. He didn't even say anything about it. But he did nod. A gesture that many were coming to know meant a quiet acceptance. The man then continued on with the announcements he had for them, ignoring the flowers that were blooming before him.

Including his own.

(4)

Eraserhead was so damn tired.

Lately his hero work had been taking longer and longer. Before UA decided to implement the dorm system, he would just go to his and Hizashi's apartment after his patrol. They had made sure that they lived within a decent proximity to both of their routes so when they were done for the night they wouldn't have to travel far. Now Aizawa had to go all the way back to the UA campus on the other side of town and it significantly impeded on his already-limited resting hours. The hero was grumbling to himself after a particularly rough night on his way back to the dorms. Not the staff dorms like he would want to, but the student dorms.

As Class 1A's homeroom teacher, Aizawa was their dorm supervisor. It made sense, of course. The dorms needed adult supervision and it was more reasonable for that supervision to be the homeroom teacher. It was the same for all of the other dorms on campus. He, like all of the other teachers, agreed to it. Unfortunately, it meant that he didn't really get much of a break from these teens as he now saw them both during and after school. All of the responsibility fell to him. Sure it wasn't every night, but he had to spend half of the week's nights there to be able to respond to any issues that could arise. This was one of those nights.

It had been a month since the move and everyone was slowly adjusting. They were only teens so for many, this was their first real experience living outside of the family home. Not only that, but several of them hadn't grown up with siblings and weren't used to living with other adolescents. Laying out a baseline standard of cleanliness, figuring out who could and couldn't be trusted in the kitchen by themselves, making sure everyone knew how to actually work the appliances, establishing a chores schedule, and all of the drama that comes with 20 teens suddenly living together fell to him.

Naturally, this was on top of his usual teaching and hero work. It's been busier for all heroes since All Might retired. Villains and would-be villains alike had been emboldened by the absence of the Symbol of Peace. All Might may be gone, but all of the other heroes were still around and they now shared the extra work between them. Endeavor may now be the top-ranking hero in the country, but his presence can't possibly compare to the charisma that All Might had brought to the table.

That night had been especially awful as he had to respond to three different calls, an unusually high number for him. A robbery, a drug bust, and an arson case. Any one of those would make for an eventful patrol but all three in the same night was just ludicrous. Suffice it to say, when he finally entered the 1A dorm, all he wanted to do was to just conk out in his bed.

Of course it would be his luck that fate had other plans for him.

Aizawa noticed that the light to the kitchen was on. It was way too late (or early) for any of the students to be up, so the teacher mentally cursed himself that he would have to pause in his quest in order to discipline them. However, as soon as he saw that it was Bakugou, he knew it wasn't going to be as simple as that. Especially since the light pink gladiolus flowers in the boy's platinum blond hair barely had enough time to bloom before they wilted away.

Class 1A knew that the explosive boy went to bed at an oddly early hour. Part of it was that he liked getting up early, but his teacher knew there was more to it. After Aizawa talked to his parents, the man learned that going to bed so early was a recent development. He hadn't been getting much sleep after his kidnapping and went to bed early to compensate. That way when he woke up from his nightmares, he had enough time to recover and try to get a decent night's rest anyway. Obviously this wasn't healthy, but the teacher hadn't been able to address it adequately before since Bakugou usually stayed in his room rather than come downstairs to the common areas. It was better to confront such issues in the moment rather than after the fact.

"Bakugou. You've been having difficulty sleeping, haven't you?" Aizawa found that the best way to handle the kid, at least when it came to a topic such as this, was to be direct and not give him an out. The boy was so insistent on being the best without having to rely on anyone else, that he felt that he needed to handle mental struggles on his own as well. Left to his own devices, he'd never willingly share that he was going through something. Admitting, let alone accepting, that he needed help for any reason was always a battle.

The teen, who seemed momentarily startled at his teacher's sudden presence, turned away and mumbled something under his breath. As Aizawa started towards the kitchen, he noticed the boy scowl at having been caught before turning back to the umeboshi that he was slicing. Damn, if the kid is cooking, he probably doesn't intend on going back to bed. It was early enough that he couldn't expect the other kids to be up for some time, but late enough that the teacher wasn't likely to get any sleep unless he went to bed now. That left him to choose between staying up or grabbing some much-needed rest.

_Curse his bleeding heart._

The tired man silently plugged the tea kettle next to rice maker that was already well on its way to making rice porridge. He then grabbed one of the cutting boards from the drawer and a knife. "Bakugou, hand me those scallions."

It was a more elaborate of a breakfast than Aizawa ever would have made himself, but he would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy it. While some of his students had skills that made sense given their quirk, such as Sato's baking, others had talents that lay elsewhere. Bakugou had a hidden knack for cooking that certainly came in handy. It seemed to calm the boy at least to some extent. The flowers were no longer blooming, indicating that his emotions were no longer strong. However, since the ones that had already blossomed were still wilting, it meant that he was still in a depressive episode.

"I'm surprised you actually eat something besides those jelly packets of yours," the teen managed when they finally sat down to eat.

"The packets are faster. I don't exactly have the time to spend over half an hour on just breakfast."

"So why did you bother this time? You didn't have to stay up just to pity me."

The kid was obviously too hard on himself if he thought that basic human empathy was pity. Though to be fair, Shouta felt much the same way at that age. There were parts of him even now that were suspicious of honest intent.

"Not pity. You think you're the only one in the hero business with sleep problems? Welcome to the club. Congrats." The slightly provocative statement was meant to get the student to react and incite a conversation, even if it was for the kid to vent. The trick was to poke the bear without going too far.

The pro hero took a bite of his food as he noticed the blond roll his eyes. He called it out. "What? Did you think I take naps every chance I get just because of overwork? I may be busy being both a teacher and a pro hero, but so is the rest of the faculty of the hero course. And no, I'm not narcoleptic either. Hell, Present Mic also has a radio show. If anyone deserves to be called overworked, it's him. And no, I'm not narcoleptic either."

"You're telling me, you don't get much sleep because of night terrors or something?" The way the teen made the statement, it was clear that he thought the suggestion was ridiculous. The self projection didn't escape Aizawa's notice either.

"Yes."

The teacher carefully watched the silently incredulous look on his student's face while betraying no emotion himself. It was important to present the fact casually and without judgement. That was the best chance he had at making even a little headway here. No new flowers, but the wilting process on those that remained had halted. It wasn't much, but it was something.

There was an uncharacteristic hesitation before Bakugou asked the inevitable question. "What do_you _get night terrors about?"

The man placed his spoon down with a sigh. He was done eating. He then leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling to avoid making eye contact. He knew he had to make himself vulnerable to make his student's problems less isolating, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"If you asked me a year ago, I would probably point to an incident near the start of my career. Long story short, but I was trying to catch someone who had fallen off of a building. I misjudged my timing and I missed."

"And they didn't make it." It didn't take the kid's keen intellect to put that one together.

"There aren't a lot of people who can survive after falling eight storeys."

Aizawa lowered his gaze to resume eye contact once more. The pair sat there in silence for a handful of moments. Neither of them moved. They simply watched one another, waiting for the other to speak first while they themselves were lost in their own thoughts.

The teen broke first, his expression unreadable. "But I didn't ask a year ago."

"Well, a year ago, I didn't exactly expect that a targeted attack on my students was possible. Especially not like this year."

"The USJ," the kid nodded in understanding. "You did break nearly every bone in your body."

"Not _just_ the USJ. Some of the ones I get about the quirk training camp are actually worse."

That struck a nerve. Bakugou's hands sparked dangerously at the mere mention of the event. His flowers didn't so much wilt as they did burn before they even bloomed, the charred buds floating to the floor.

"What kind of nightmares could _you _possibly have about that camp?!"

The man didn't make any moves to stop the boy. The reaction was justifiable. He had every right to be angry, especially at him. If anyone had that right, it was the student he had failed the most.

"Bakugou… My one and only job is to prepare you and your classmates for the life ahead of you. Not only to train and to teach you, but at the very basic level, to give everything I have to ensure your safety while doing so. At the USJ, we were surprised by a group we'd never heard of before, whose goals and skills were unclear. I was absolutely prepared to give my life for the students I hadn't even known for a week and I nearly did.

"But the quirk training camp was different. We had more intel. We knew more about the League of Villains, broadly what they wanted to achieve, and even that their plans threatened our original location for the camp. We knew that everyone's safety was at a higher risk than any previous year. We were more prepared."

The tired pro leaned forward to look his student dead in the eye. "Yet nothing I did made any difference. I failed. With more tools and preparation at my disposal, I managed to do worse than I did than when I had no warning."

Aizawa felt a rare bud forming on his scalp. Quickly, he plucked it before it had a chance to even breach his hair and flicked it across the room with more force than was likely necessary.

"How am I supposed to look my students in the eye, to look _you _in the eye, and tell them that they will be safe in my care after all of that? I didn't even play any significant role in your return. I was stuck in that press conference room and could do _nothing_ but wait and hope that people better than me could do what I couldn't."

The blond seemed conflicted if his flowers were anything to go by. Some wilted immediately while others bloomed large. Hound Dog as the guidance counselor could probably decipher that better than Aizawa could. At the very least, the hands weren't sparking. That was about the best he could hope for right now.

The pro hero took his chance to end the conversation on his own terms. He hadn't fully intended on baring his own soul and he wasn't ready to go much further. He stood and gathered his dishes together as he spoke.

"But we move on. As heroes, we have a job to do. Despite how we are feeling, physically, mentally, emotionally, there's someone out there who relies on us to get up every day to get to work. But that doesn't mean we don't need support."

He unceremoniously dropped his bowl and silverware off in the kitchen sink, setting his cup to the side. "Just as you use support items, like your gauntlets, to more efficiently use your quirk, there is support available to help with the other stuff. I can set up a meeting with Hound Dog for you if you want. I know you've refused before, but the offer stands at any time. You can even slip a note under my door if you don't want to be seen asking and I can come up with an excuse for you that won't raise suspicion from your classmates.

"In any case, I'm going to try to get some grading done before the day starts. I'd suggest doing the dishes if you want busy work and I don't need to remind you that I can easily expel you if I catch you telling your classmates what I told you in confidence just now. Am I clear?"

Bakugou answered with a grunt. Considering that as good an acknowledgement as he would get right now, Aizawa cut his losses and poured himself another cup of tea, retreating to the teacher's quarters.

On his way out at sunrise, the man noticed a folded piece of paper had been slid under his door. Inside was a pressed gladiolus stem with a few blooms upon it with a handwritten note:

_I'm willing to give your offer a shot. No promises it will work._

Well, it was a start.


End file.
